FineCycle: Towards a Full-Cycle Management Paradigm for Robotic Deployment and Development
Haolin Wang, Wang Xi, Zhiyuan Zhu, Chongrong Fang, Jianping He
Abstract
Typical robotic workflows involve deploying applications from servers to robots for testing or distributing validated applications across a fleet to unify capabilities. Because these processes are often slowed by tedious environment configurations, we need a way to improve deployment and development efficiency. Existing solutions typically simplify deployment through containerization; however, they often lack integrated development environments, necessitating repetitive packaging for code modifications and hindering iterative efficiency. This paper proposes FINECYCLE, a management paradigm that encapsulates the entire software stack into a robotic image. By facilitating a complete "deploy-develop-store" cycle, FINECYCLE streamlines the transition between cross-host deployment and iterative refinement. Additionally, we opensource image templates compatible with this paradigm to reduce time costs for researchers and foster collaborative progress in the robotics community.